


Zero Gravity

by Arithese



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Bruises, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Near Drowning, Sibling Love, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 09:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18635863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: After the fight with Sivana, Billy is hurt worse than he realises.





	Zero Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> The Eurovision propaganda continues, title of the story taken from the Australian song this year, Zero Gravity.

“Dude this is so awesome!” Freddy cried out, letting out a whoop of laughter, flying a little higher.

“I hope you realise you’ve just created a monster by giving him these powers.” Mary said softly, flying next to Billy. He smiles fondly, shaking his head. “You know he wanted this for so long?” She continues, and Billy chuckles.

“Oh I know.” He says, smiling brightly as they all flew around. When they left their lair, nobody really wanted to go home just yet, wanting to savour the moment for just a moment longer, the victory they just experienced, and the _abilities_ they had just gotten from Billy during the fight.

Especially Freddy had been so excited, actually the one to suggest going out to fly just a little while longer. And nobody had the heart to tell Freddy no right now, not when his face was filled with so much hope and excitement. It wasn’t just excitement like he’d normally feel, this was different.

This was true happiness. And Billy would do anything to keep his brother happy. He smiles sadly, glancing down at nothing in particular. _Brother…_ because that’s what Freddy was to him, a brother. They were all his family, people that would look after him, and people he needed now that …

.. Now that he knew his biological mom didn’t need him.

He shook his head for a moment, trailing off slightly before kicking it up a bit to fly after his new family again. He had a new family, a better one. This family had protected him, _wanted_ him, and they had stood up against a supervillain to defend him from giving up his powers, because they cared.

And Rosa and Victo-

“Shit!” Billy suddenly curses, coming to a stop. His family stopped as well, turning around. “Rosa and Victor, they’re still looking for me.”

“Dude, the fight was all over the news, they must be worried sick.” Freddy says, and Billy nods. Billy couldn’t get himself to doubt the statement right now. No matter how much he liked his new family.. he still couldn’t get himself to fully believe that they were _worried_ about him, not even when they already showed they do.

“We should go home.” Mary butts in, the voice of reason. Everyone nods, taking off without a second thought. Mary was the first one to reach their garden, closely followed by Darla. The youngest of the family was the fastest they had quickly discovered, but she wasn’t the one to take charge.

Mary was still the oldest, and even Billy looked up to her like a big sister.

“Are they home?” Eugene asks, and Freddy nods, before frowning, turning around.

“Guys my cane is still at the carnival, somebody is going to have to help me inside.” He says, and Mary nods silently at the silent request, walking over to him. There was a nonverbal communication between them, neither of them needing any words but both knowing what the other one was thinking.

_Of course Mary would help me_.

“Shazam.” Freddy said, allowing the lightning to overcome him. He vaguely registered the rest of his family saying the same, but for the moment all he could feel was the throbbing pain returning to his leg like a wrecking ball. He groans, but Mary immediately caught him, before he could even fall.

She didn’t say anything, didn’t have to, as she slung Freddy’s arm around her shoulder.

“Billy?” Darla’s high pitched voice sounded, _worried_. Mary and Freddy whirl around, eyes widening at the same moment as they saw the collapsed figure of Billy. “Something’s wrong with Billy.” Darla cries, tears already in her eyes.

“Mary, go.” Freddy pushes Mary, who obliges immediately, running over to Billy’s figure, dropping to her knees.

“Pedro, Eugene get mom and dad, now!” She orders, rolling Billy over on his back. She gasps, hand flying to her mouth. Billy’s face was a mess, almost as if it was painted red. Some parts were already turning a bluish colour, making his face seem even worse than before.

His eyes were closed, face contorted with pain but still breathing steadily.

“Billy!” A voice cut through, and Mary was just fast enough to see Rosa rush past Freddy before she stopped with wide eyes, fear written all over her face. “Victor, get him inside, please.” She begged, and Victor, who had run after Rosa, immediately crouched down, gently picking up Billy.

The younger boy groans, face scrunching up even more but he didn’t wake.

Victor turned around, walking back to the house with big strides, not trusting himself to run or go any faster right now. Not with Billy in his arms. The boy was light, _too_ light almost, but he pushed that down for the moment. Right now he had to focus on getting Billy inside, and figure out what was wrong with him.

Darla whimpered, creeping closer to Rosa, who gently picked her up. “What is wrong with Billy?” Her voice sounded so tiny, so vulnerable.

“I don’t know Darla, but Billy’s strong.” Rosa mutters, glancing at her last two kids. Mary was already walking back to Freddy, wrapping her arm around his waist and allowing Freddy to sling an arm around her shoulders. They silently made their way inside, Rosa following closely with Darla.

Victor had walked straight to the living room, laying Billy on the couch. Eugene and Pedro had already removed the cushions so there was enough room, propping up a pillow for his head. Billy breathed out shakily, but still, he didn’t show any signs of waking up, or made any indication of moving.

“We have to take him to a hospital, what happened?” Victor asks, voice filled with worry. Mary’s eyes widened, exchanging a quick look with Freddy.

“No you can’t.” Freddy shouts almost, and Victor frowns.

“We can’t explain dad, but please trust us, he can’t go to the hospital” Mary adds. Victor was about to protest but Rosa put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly. She glances at Mary with a slight frown on his face.

“If it’s bad we’ll take him to the hospital.” She said in a soft voice, but all of them understood that it wasn’t a request, it was a statement that didn’t allow for any argument. “Mary can you get the first aid kit? And Pedro, take Eugene and Darla upstairs would you?” She asks, and Pedro nods silently.

Neither Darla nor Eugene protests, following Pedro out of the room. Rosa glances at Freddy for a moment, but he shakes his head. _I’m not leaving._ The sentence went unspoken, but Rosa didn’t have to hear it from Freddy to know what he wanted to tell her, that he wanted to be there for Billy.

Rosa sighs, gesturing for him to sit on the other couch before turning back to Billy.

“Hey Billy, mi amor?” Rosa asks softly, but Billy still didn’t seem to wake up. Rosa take a deep breath, putting a soft hand on his face. The skin felt warm under her touch, and clammy.

“I grabbed some ice packs from the freezer.” Mary announces her presence, and Rosa smiles gratefully. “I think he hurt his ribs, he seems to have trouble breathing.” Mary suggests, walking to the end of the couch to gently put the ice pack against the side of Billy’s face.

Rosa nods silently, zipping open Billy’s jacket, and red sweater, helping him out of both clothing items before gently lifting up the grey shirt underneath it.

“Holy shi-” Freddy exclaims, barely stopping himself. His eyes were focused on the patchwork of red and blue spreading across Billy’s stomach and rib cage. Rosa frowns, pressing two fingers to Billy’s ribs and slowly moving upwards. Billy groans, blinking his eyes sluggishly.

“Billy?” Mary asks softly but with an urgency in her voice. Billy lets out another soft groan, disorientated eyes looking for Mary’s, and finding her after a few seconds.

“Rosa look at him, he needs to see a doctor.” Victor tries again. Billy’s eyes widen.

“N-No doctor.” He scrambles to sit up, letting out a hiss of pain before Mary pushes him back down.

“Don’t move Billy, you’re injured.” She tells him, and Billy settles down, but Mary had no idea whether it was because he was listening to her or because he was too exhausted to move. But neither of them knew how his Shazam form changed his human form, would the doctors find out if they treated him?

Would they notice he was different? He couldn’t take the risk, not when he had a family to protect.

“Victor it’s fine, I can’t feel any broken ribs, it’s just bruising.” Rosa says, and Victor glances over at Billy, and the younger boy was surprised to see tears lingering in the older man’s eyes. Tears of _worry_. Billy swallowed thickly, not knowing how to react to that, he never allowed other people to worry this much.

Victor scrubs at his eyes, walking forwards and sitting down on his knees.

“I just want to make sure you’re alright, okay kiddo?” He asks, and Billy can do nothing but nod, not trusting himself to speak right now. Victor gives him a shaky smile, nodding as well before turning back to Rosa.

“Is there anything else that’s hurting Billy?” She asks, but Billy shakes his head. “Good, Victor can I speak to you in the other room for a moment, I think the kids want to be alone for a moment.” She whispers, and Victor glances around the room for a second before settling on Mary’s face.

“You don’t have to tell us, but whatever is going on, you _can_ tell us, you know that right?” He asks, voice soft.

“We know dad, but we’re not sure what’s happening either… not really.” Mary smiles gently, and Victor smiles at his daughter, reaching for Rosa’s hand and walking out of the room.

“Dude, what the hell happened?” Freddy immediately exclaims the moment they were out of the room. “I thought the big guy was indestructible. It certainly felt that way when you gave us those powers.” The usual enthusiasm from Freddy’s voice was gone again, replaced by just sheer worry for his older brother.

Billy chews on his lip, not looking at Freddy or Mary. The latter takes the ice pack off Billy’s face.

“It was the water, wasn’t it?” She asks softly, and Billy looks up.

“The ice wasn’t gone yet.” Billy mumbles, almost too scared to say it out loud. He didn’t _want_ to remember what he felt, and what he _didn’t_ feel. The pain hadn’t registered back then, he only felt his face hit the already cracked ice before he fell through it. But his mind wouldn’t allow him to feel the pain.

He could only feel panic, adrenaline coursing through his veins as a hand kept pushing him down.

Screaming... screaming desperately for something to happen. The word Shazam wasn’t loud enough, wasn’t audible enough to trigger the lightning to change him into the Champion, as the bald guy had called him. And he was _drowning_ , couldn’t get enough air, and he was just so afraid.

“It’s okay Billy, you’re safe now.” Mary whispers above him, brushing away the tears. _When did he start crying?_ He sniffles, wiping at his eyes before hissing as pain blossomed across his face. Mary chuckles slightly, gently taking his hand away from his face to put the ice pack back on.

Are we going to tell mom and dad about our.. y’know.?” Freddy trails off, and Billy glances at him.

“Should we?” He asks, looking at Mary. And Billy quickly found himself realising that he looked up to Mary to make the decision.. as the oldest sibling, as a big sister to him. Mary frowns softly.

“I don’t think we can hide it from them, I mean you know how bad Darla is at keeping secrets.” Mary says. “And if they know they can help us, in situations like this.”

“We don’t have to decide now, right?” Billy whispers softly, voice still slightly shaky. Mary smiles, grasping Billy’s hand and squeezing it softly.

“Focus on healing first, little brother.” Mary says, glancing down at Billy with a fond smile on her face. _Little brother…._ and for some reason, the term felt nice, it felt right.

“Dude you know what we should do?!” Freddy suddenly exclaims. “We should totally have one of those movie nights where we put down mattresses and blankets and huddle up together.”

“I like that.” Mary chuckles.

“Movie night!” A high pitched voice exclaims, Darla running into the room with a bright smile on her face and heading straight towards Billy.

“Easy there, Darla.” Mary smiled, stopping Darla before she could jump on top of Billy. “Gentle okay? Darlan nods, walking over to Billy and climbing onto the couch. Billy looks stunned for a moment before he shuffles to the side to make more room for the girl.

“She couldn’t be stopped.” Eugene says as he walks back into the room, followed closely by Pedro. “But I do know how to put on that movie.” Eugene grins cheekily, not waiting for further confirmation and walking over to the television. Pedro said down on the other couch, leaving enough room for Eugene.

Freddy grins, slinging his good leg over Pedro’s lap before his bad leg followed. Pedro just put a firm but gentle hand on his ankles, not reacting. And to be fair, it also wasn’t the first time he had done this.

Mary and Billy exchange a look before the former shakes her head, standing up.

“I’ll get those blankets.” She says, disappearing for a moment.

“Are you okay Billy?” Darla whispers, and Billy doesn’t have the heart to tell her no. So he smiles at her, wrapping an arm around her.

“Of course I am, I’m a superhero.” He says, and Darla grins widely.

“We all are Billy.” She giggles, laying down with her head on his shoulder. And somehow, that didn’t make his injuries worse. The steady weight only served as a way to ground him, to remind him that he was currently surrounded by family. People who wanted him around, and loved him.

_His family_.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what the layout of the house is, and it’s driving me crazy, so until I know for sure, I’m making stuff up as we go ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ They have two couches, fight me.


End file.
